Panama leads region with projected 7% growth – ECLAC

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ( ECLAC ) forecast on Tuesday a growth of 7%, for Panama the best for the Central American region, where the average will be 4.1%.

The organization improved its growth forecast for Latin America to 2.7% from the previously estimated 1.8%, despite a very complex scenario of slowdown and inflation, which will deepen in the second half of the year.

The global scenario of low growth and rising prices, “along with lower growth in trade, the appreciation of the dollar, and the tightening of global financial conditions will negatively affect the countries of the region ”, explained ECLAC.

Daniel Titelman, director of Economic Development for the United Nations technical agency, stated at a press conference that the region is in a “very difficult situation” because “it is returning to a trend and a path of low growth that has already been watched before the pandemic.

“The low growth dynamic is being accompanied by inflationary pressures and high inflation rates that generate a very complex challenging situation for macro (economic) policy,” said the ECLAC expert.

The slowdown process began to become evident after the 6.5% growth registered in 2021, mostly driven by a strong recovery in services after the worst part of the covid-19 pandemic.

But now the adverse international scenario is added with the war between Russia and Ukraine.